David Finke, Ph.D., has joined Uspiritus as Vice President of Residential Services. Dr. Finke comes to Uspiritus from Seven Counties Services where served for 20 years, most recently as division director of Downtown Outpatient Services in the Child and Family Services division for the past seven years. He has also been the training director for the Jefferson County Internship Consortium for the last 11 years.

Dr. Finke,a licensed psychologist, received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Mich. Dr. Finke completed an internship in clinical psychology at the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute in Chicago. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at the Metro Child and Adolescent Services at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Dr. Finke also conducts trauma-informed training and serves on the executive committee of the Bounce Coalition, which is bringing trauma-informed services to schools and out-of-school-time providers.

In his role with Uspiritus, Dr. Finke will provide administrative and clinical oversight of all residential programs, participate in the development of proposals and grants, and work with other parts of the organization to ascertain coordinated treatment services.

Approximately 60 real-life Santas from the Saint Nick Fund descended on the Uspiritus-Brooklawn campus on Friday, Dec. 11, bringing with them bags of toys for 180 children of Uspiritus, reminiscent of the jolly old man himself. Some of the toys were distributed to the Uspiritus youth that night, and others are to be given out on Christmas Day.

The Saint Nick Fund was started in 2005 with a handful of people who just wanted to do something good to help one family who were struggling. Since its mission started, the Saint Nick Fund has raised more than $400,000, with every penny raised in donations going directly to needy families. The organization now has volunteers from all over Louisville, Fern Creek, Jeffersontown and Western Kentucky.

Uspiritus is a merger between Bellewood Home for Children and Brooklawn Child & Family Services. It provides a comprehensive continuum of care serving children in Kentucky, offering services including therapeutic foster care, a family preservation program, residential treatment, community based services and independent living.

This Saint Nick Fund project was made possible by the following sponsors: Walmart, Target, Century Mortgage, GW Berkheimer, Raymond James, Four Seasons HVAC, E-Vapor and Prodigy Construction.